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Washburn Rural looking to slow down talented Trojans in key Centennial League clash

Topeka High’s Ky Thomas, right, is coming off a 234-yard, four-touchdown performance against Shawnee Heights and leads the city with 923 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. (2017 file photo/The Capital-Journal)

Washburn Rural and coach Steve Buhler are coming off a 30-26 win over Hayden last week. (2017 file photo/The Capital-Journal)

Last Friday night, Washburn Rural’s football team built a commanding 30-7 halftime lead over Hayden only to see the Wildcats roar back and have a chance to win the game.

But Junior Blues coach Steve Buhler’s biggest takeaway from that game is the way Rural found a way to hold on for a 30-26 victory and snap a three-game losing streak.

“Everybody talks about Hayden’s comeback at the end and whether that’s kind of a downer coming out of that game, but it’s really not,” said Buhler, whose Junior Blues will host Topeka High in a 7 p.m. Centennial League contest Friday night. “How we view that as a coaching staff is that it’s really good experience for our young guys. We’ve been playing six, seven sophomores on defense the last couple of weeks so every week’s been kind of a progression and a learning curve for them on the varsity level and to have to go through a situation like that at the end of the game where you have to scratch and claw and fight to hang on, I think it just benefits us as we head later in the season.”

Washburn Rural (2-3 overall and in the league) has been eliminated from the Centennial League title race, but Buhler said the goal now is to try to build some late-season momentum to get ready for postseason.

“That’s the whole point of it right now,” he said. “Everybody starts at the beginning of the year wanting the league championship, but then reality sets in after a few weeks and everybody gets a feel of where their teams are at and now it’s just putting ourselves in the best position we can for Week 9 and playing as well as we can at the end of the season.”

On Friday, the Junior Blues will try to play spoiler against a Topeka High team (4-1, 4-1) that has an opportunity to earn a share of the Centennial League championship with a win, but Buhler knows his team faces a tough task.

Walt Alexander’s Trojans experienced a hiccup two weeks ago in a 21-14 loss to Manhattan, but High bounced back last Friday to rout previously unbeaten Shawnee Heights 48-14.

“It’s probably the most talented team I’ve seen in person and on tape in a lot of years, top to bottom,” Buhler said. “Everybody talks about Ky (Thomas) and everybody else, and trust me they’re fantastic, but the guys up front are impressive. It’s hard enough to stop the running backs because they’re good, but when they’ve got a line that’s playing the way they are up front I don’t know you try to slow them down other than try to make your offense control the tempo and all those things.

“And their defense is getting a little better each week, too. We’re just trying to look at it and see what we can come up with to slow them down.”

Washburn Rural beat Topeka High 17-7 a year ago and Alexander is expecting another tough battle Friday night. Washburn Rural has played the last three games without injured junior quarterback Jordan White, but senior Michael Schurig has stepped in and thrown for 887 yards and six touchdowns while junior Preston Williams has caught 28 passes for 426 yards and five TDs.

“They’ve found their rhythm and they’ve got an identity of what they’re trying to do now after an injury,” Alexander said. “Schurig can throw the ball and they’ve got good receivers. Defensively they play hard and they’re always going to play hard.”

Alexander was proud of the way his team bounced back from the Manhattan loss, but he also wants to make sure the Trojans continue to move forward.

“Like I told the kids, we responded and handled adversity when we lost, but now how are we going to respond and handle things with a win?” Alexander said. “To me that’s more important now than what we did last week because you’re only as good as your next effort, you’re only as good as your next game and your next play. I hope our kids take that to heart because we have a chance to be successful.”

Thomas, a sophomore, is coming off a 234-yard, four-touchdown performance against Shawnee Heights and leads the city with 923 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Thomas went over the 2,000-yard rushing mark for his career against Heights.

Topeka High sophomore Da’Vonshai Harden leads the city in total offense (1,022 yards) and he passed for 702 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior Larry White has caught 10 passes for 351 yards and six touchdowns.

FRIDAY’S OTHER CITY GAMES

(All games at 7 p.m.)

HIGHLAND PARK (0-5, 0-5) at TOPEKA WEST (0-5, 0-5)

At Hummer Sports Park

Both Highland Park and Topeka West will be looking for a much-needed win, with the Scots out to snap a 30-game losing streak while the Chargers have dropped eight straight games. West beat Highland Park 29-20 in last year’s game. Highland Park is coming off a 61-12 loss to Junction City while West dropped a 54-13 decision to Emporia. West junior quarterback Hunter McDaniel ranks third in the city in passing (51 of 119, 720 yards, 6 TDs) and senior Chris Ellis is third in passing receiving (24 catches, 330 yards). Highland Park senior Will White, who recently took over at quarterback for the Scots, scored both of his team’s touchdowns last Friday and ranks fourth in the city in punting (32.9 average).

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (4-1, 4-1) at HAYDEN (2-3, 2-3)

Shawnee Heights is coming off its first loss of the year, a 48-14 loss to Topeka High, while Hayden’s comeback came up short in a 30-26 loss to Washburn Rural. Hayden won last year’s game against Heights, 23-20. Shawnee Heights senior Trey Jenkins is second in the city in rushing (118 carries, 562 yards) while senior quarterback Mitchell Lady is third in rushing (59 carries, 356 yards) and sixth in total offense (696 yards). Shawnee Heights can clinch at least a share of the Centennial League title with a victory. Hayden senior quarterback Sampson Huston ranks second in the city in passing (63 of 119, 807 yards, 10 TDs) while senior DeShawn Hanika leads the city in passing receiving (28 catches, 445 yards, 7 TDs) and senior Brent Peavler is fourth in rushing (28 carries, 339 yards).

SEAMAN (3-2, 3-2) at EMPORIA (3-2, 3-2)

At Welch Stadium

Seaman dropped a 27-9 decision to Manhattan last Friday while Emporia rolled to a 54-13 win over Topeka West. Seaman junior quarterback Kobe Jones is fifth in the city in passing (34 of 78, 415 yards, 6 TDs) and seventh in total offense (598 yards) while senior Dalton Temmen is sixth in rushing (58 carries, 288 yards). The winner of Friday’s game still has an outside shot at a share of the Centennial League championship, but Shawnee Heights, Topeka High and Manhattan would all have to lose Friday night. Emporia quarterback Jace Stewart ran for 114 yards and three touchdowns in the Spartans’ win over Topeka West last week.